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Sea Gulls facing NCAA veteran Warriors squad in opener

Now that the Salisbury University men's basketball team has made its first trip to the NCAA tournament under head coach Josh Merkel, the Sea Gulls will match up in the first round with what they aspire to be.

Now that the Salisbury University men's basketball team has made its first trip to the NCAA tournament under head coach Josh Merkel, the Sea Gulls will match up in the first round with what they aspire to be.

Eastern Connecticut (22-5) will be participating in a postseason tournament for the sixth straight year. They are in the NCAA tournament's field of 62 for the sixth time and the third time in the last four years.

"It has been a traditionally strong program and very strong in the last seven years specifically," Merkel said. "They have had 20-win seasons and a tournament team each of the last five seasons."

Two years ago, Salisbury got a look at the Warriors in a 75-55 loss at the Sponaugle New Years Tournament in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Merkel describes them as a systematic offense with very good players who can make plays at the end of games.

"They do a couple of things really well offensively and defensively we told our guys they are similar to Marymount or St. Mary's defensively where it is a packed-line defense, a man-to-man half court defensive team, very physical that tries to limit you to one shot and really tries to keep the ball out of the paint."

Knowing that the Warriors don't change much of what they do from year to year means that there will be no surprises awaiting the Sea Gulls, but on the other hand, it means that what they do they do very well because they have had a lot of practice.

"We have seen it," Merkel said. " It is a matter of executing, a matter of playing with a clear mind and it should be our most active defensive game because we need to continue to get better at that end."

The biggest task for SU will be limiting Eastern Connecticut to one shot. The Warriors average 13.5 offensive rebounds a game and sport the eighth best rebounder in the country in sophomore forward Hugh Lindo who also averages 11.3 points per game.

"He gets four offensive rebounds a game," Merkel said. "And it is not just him. So we need to have five blockouts and clean up the loose rebounds, so that we can play our pace, play a little faster and get the ball going up to the offensive end."

Lindo's presence on the glass at 6-foot-4 and 190 pounds mean that SU's Wyatt Smith will have a tough assignment on defense.

Salisbury started the season by losing five of its first seven games before beginning to find its way.

"Like every team there is going to be a process of growth," Merkel said. "You never know exactly how that team will respond. We always think with high character guys those are the guys you can win and lose with so when things aren't going so well they are going to look inside and figure out what they need to rather than pointing fingers.

"I think that it is a testament to our guys' character that after the start that we had e were able to get back on track and get playing as well as we have of late."

That success has come with an unselfish offense and any guy can step up on a given night. While Wyatt (14 points, 8 rebounds a game) has been on a tear of late, the team has eight guys who average more than five points.

The defense also help opponents to 39 percent from the field over the last month.